Random 5 for December 24, 2023 – Holidays, Murphy’s law, illness, projects, cards

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One of the few pictures of me at Christmas

One more sleep! – When I was a kid, this was an exciting day. People would be coming and going. Lots of commotion and cooking and eating. Once I was past the Santa stage, we put our tree up with me helping on the 24th so it was a very busy day. My parents came from large families so between Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day, the house was full of people.

And the shoe drops – If you read my Friday post, you know that we are having heating issues and a sick Gus. Gus is doing fine. For a boy cat, he’s a drama queen and nothing was serious with the issue that caused the vet visit. However (and there always is one with cats), his teeth are being absorbed by his gums. He needs a dental and oh yes, his ears are all yeasty and he needs to lose 4 pounds. Sigh. Heating issues continue but we have heat so that’s the good news.

Now for that shoe – After warding off illness for the past three years, the beloved husband was sick when he got up this morning. It’s something respiratory. I pulled out all the meds and test kits and every single item is expired. Nothing older than 2020 because we cleaned out when we moved but nothing recent enough to use. As I always say, we have catastrophes (mostly CATastrophes) on weekends and holidays! Locally everything is closing at 6 p.m. today and will be closed tomorrow.

Making progress – We were able to do more planning work on our bathroom project. We met a lovely woman who was full of good ideas. Our bathroom isn’t straightforward as it also houses the beloved husband’s clothes. I was impressed with her “off the top of her head” suggestions!

Sayonara cards – This will be my last year for sending Christmas cards except for a very few. My sister-in-law loves getting cards so I will continue that one. It’s not as much fun as it used to be.

So how was your week?

88 thoughts on “Random 5 for December 24, 2023 – Holidays, Murphy’s law, illness, projects, cards”

    • I will cut back to the 2 or 3 who appreciate them. I think many people do it out of guilt because they got one. There are very few who treasure them. I also prefer a personal note to a sterile signature which isn’t practical when sending a lot. I love the ones with pictures, whether it’s kids or pets. I keep them in my Christmas card file.

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  5. CATastrophe. Love that word. There is always something but I sure hope your husband is feeling better. We’ve had friends who are highly vaccinated and still got very sick with Covid. And with RSV. It’s dangerous times out there! Both of you take care! And happy new year!

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  6. Once ‘Santa’ is not in the equation, the holiday becomes a little more about ‘stuff,’ and when you get to be a senior who has downsized stuff is definitely not on your list. 🙂 Hope hubby is feeling better, and some of those expired tests probably still work based upon the fact that the government sent us expired ones and told us they were okay to use. 🙂 I sincerely hope the heat is still on because paying a heating contractor to make a house call would make the cash register go kaching several times. 🙂

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    • We had 4 boxes of tests. For two of them the liquid in the vial was evaporated but the other two worked ok. No covid which is what we thought. We went out and bought new meds for cough, flu, etc. We have a service plan for our heating system which helps. Parts are under warranty and labor is half off. We can use the auxiliary heat until after the holiday. Hopefully they will come up with an answer. Overall it won’t be our best Christmas but we are not in a war area, we have a warm place to live and no one close to us got killed. All good.

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  7. I love the photo. I could swear I got that same teddy bear for Christmas when I was about that age!!! Sorry about the hubby. I hope it isn’t anything serious. I hate that people don’t send out cards anymore. I like Christmas cards. It’s a shame. Especially when that is the only time you hear from some people. Now, you don’t even get that. Oh, well. I gave up sending them out last year.
    I stopped giving out Christmas tips as well. Every year I would leave cash for the mailman, the garbage collectors, etc.
    Most of the time, I never knew if the people I left them for even got them.
    Sometimes our regulars took the holiday off and a temp filled in. Sometimes I wondered if the envelopes were accidentally mixed in with regular mail and no one got them, or if they were stolen from the trash cans. I even wrote to one person specifically in the card asking them to let me know if he got it. Nothing. Not a single person ever acknowledged that they got the money. So I stopped. Another Christmas tradition ruined. I’m old now and I can honestly say, “I miss the good old days.”
    Hope you have a Merry Christmas.

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    • I was thinking of putting a small (very small) box of candy in our mailbox for our carrier but like you said, the regulars are often off for the holidays. USPS doesn’t allow cash tips but I’d like them to know that I appreciate them. I’ve never tipped my trash guys but I did tip my baristas today and thanked them for working on Christmas!

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    • Anne, we are so lucky in so many ways that a few days of illness can’t change that. I am so grateful for what we have (despite the beloved husband coughing his lungs out!). Have a great Christmas!

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  10. Gus rallied and now your husband is sick. You can’t win for losing sometimes (and on a holiday weekend of course). Sorry to hear your husband is not feeling well and I hope you could get a quick fix for the respiratory woes at the drugstore today. I have a similar black-and-white photo of me by the Christmas tree – we had a lot of tinsel too. There was an annual picture posing next to the Christmas tree and I did a post about it a few years ago. Merry Christmas!

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    • There is nothing like Christmas when you are a kid. My moms siblings lived within walking distance so it was a day of visiting and festivities and food, so much food. Today we will have a quiet day. My husband is still sick (better but not well) so I’m looking to keep it quiet (except for the dang football game) and simple.

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      • Yes, Christmas was fun back then. I’m sorry to hear about your husband still being ill – sigh.

        This was one of my simplest Christmases ever. I only sent two cards – I meant to say that yesterday. They were to my two nun friends and very early in the month. That’s a first for me. And, I decided not to make a crockpot dinner as I didn’t get home until later from walking, so I had a sandwich and my friend Ann Marie left a bag hanging on the fence with kolackys, so it was pretty low key. We had 54 degrees today after the heavy fog cleared. It was the third day of drizzle and fog – very strange Christmas weather.

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  11. Sorry the holiday jinx continues. Stay warm, safe and know we send our best wishes this holiday season. P.S. They say even though there’s an expiration date on those kits, they’re still pretty accurate. Here’s hoping your hubs can shake off the respiratory crud. 🤞🏼 Wishing you…
    • ˚ •˛•˚ * 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
    • ˚Happy★* 。 • ˚ ˚ ˛ ˚ ˛ •
    •。★Holidays!★ 。* • ˚。
    ° 。 ° ˛˚˛ * _Π______*。*˚
    ˚ ˛ •˛•˚ */______/。~＼。˚ ˚ ˛
    ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜ 田田 ｜田｜ ˚
    ˚ ˛ •˛• ˚ ｜_____­­­___­­­_｜門｜

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  12. Poor Gus. I am sorry your husband is sick too. I know the COVID tests are OK for quite a while past their expiration date. Hope you can still have a nice Christmas.

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    • We were able to use one of the kits (two were evaporated) and he tested negative. That’s good news. It will be quiet and full of chicken soup! Not a bad way to spend the day.

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  13. Oh my, I am sorry to hear that about Gus’ teeth. Tiger Queenie had that problem, and they eventually had to pull all her teeth except the canines and some teeny-tinies in the middle on the bottom. That solved the problem because those teeth were not plagued with that issue. Hope hubby feels ok and that you both enjoy a peaceful CHristmas.

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  14. Good guy, Gus. Cuddle up and keep everyone warm. (It’s just extra pounds for the winter cool weather…once it’s warm, cat jogging will commence, right? Oh, OK…)
    Hope husband is feeling better. (You can always boil some water and drape a towel over his head and make him lean over the steamy pot…mom’s standard for stuffy noses…why bother with medication she used to say! Luckily we were rarely sick HAHA)
    A quiet Christmas is sometimes the best gift of all. May your Christmas be merry and bright and your new year be full of wonder and delight!

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  15. Poor Gus. That sounds like a lot to deal with next year. Sorry about your husband. Hope it is not too serious. Good news about your bathroom. Christmas Eves were more fun when we were kids. I hope your Christmas turns out well. Cheers!

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    • Thanks! Some years we did midnight mass which was always festive. Other years we did the first mass on Christmas. One gift to open on Christmas Eve. Lots of pastries. It was so special when my mom was alive.

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  18. Merry Christmas Kate. Glad Gus is OK apart from the teeth, sorry about your Hubby though.
    We’ve received 50 cards this year and three people will be dropped from my postal list next year, taking it below 20 so I’ll save a fair bit on postage! Have a lovely day tomorrow. We have a visitor so I’ve done as much as I can today.

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  20. The picture of a young you by the Christmas tree reminded me that, at one time, tinsel adorned everyone’s Christmas tree. As I remember it, we kids were only given one strand of tinsel at the time so that there wouldn’t be clumps in one place.

    I stopped sending Christmas cards when I moved 7 1/2 years ago. I was always the one who had the cards ready by Thanksgiving, and mailed them quite early. Most of the people I sent cards to send one to me as well, but I became aware that I was getting a card from them only because they felt obligated after receiving mine. For two years straight, I sent my cards but didn’t mail them out until five days before Christmas. As suspected, the amount of cards I received from people totally dwindled. I don’t like the feeling of getting cards because people feel obligated to send me one. Now I count on three Christmas cards every year – to come by mail and one comes by email. I send nothing either way.

    I hope your hubby feels better soon, and that you have some quiet and peaceful time around you during the holidays. Stay safe and stay healthy!

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  21. Tis the Season . . .
    Hope your husband is breathing easy soon!

    We just heard that our Christmas Dinner with neighbors is cancelled due to illness in the host’s family. We are OK with that since our main celebration will be with extended family on Thursday.

    We’ll go with Plan B for tomorrow. Sounds like you will too!

    Merry Christmas!

    AND that photo of you is adorable!!!!!

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  22. It does seem that a worrying shoe is always ready to drop around or on a holiday for you! Jerry was sick a couple of weeks ago… it wasn’t fun. Respiratory too. We had Covid tests and he used one. First time to use a Covid test and both of us have never had Covid… knock on wood. It came up negative fairly fast. There seems to be something going around that isn’t Covid but it is a wicked thing. I had the same thing a week before Jerry. It lasted about five days with improvement every day.
    Good to hear Gus is feeling better.
    I am wishing you both a Happy Christmas Eve and crossing my fingers that one shoe dropping is enough!

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  24. I’m so glad Gus is mostly well but sorry for poor Husband. Christmas is one of our favorite times for getting sick. I hope it winds up being nothing worse than a cold, but a cold is bad enough.

    As for cards… I’m sending out far more than I usually do because they are getting tucked in boxes. As for the rest, far fewer. It seems during the couple years I didn’t send any everyone else ran out of the thrill of sending them too. They do seem to be a little silly since we mostly keep up online. I kind of miss them, though.

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  25. I stopped sending cards once my uncle and grandmother died. Everyone else is on FB and can see how the kid is doing there. Between the time and the dead trees involved with cards, it was an easy choice. I miss the creativity that went into making the cards (always photo cards), but it was time. Our house was always a madhouse on Christmas Eve, too. This year we hosted Thanksgiving, so spouse and child asked that we skip holding the Christmas Eve party because “it’s so much work.” Even though guess who does most of the work, LOL. Hope the BH feels better. And according to my doctor sister, expiration dates from medical companies/ Pharma are often set ridiculously early so they can sell more product (especially true for pills which have a very long shelf life). Those tests might still work–the government did extend various test kit expiration dates, too, I think. Can’t hurt if you want to try and rule out COVID.

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    • I’m testing now. The test kits from the original “free” issue were dried out but I found another kit that wasn’t, so we’ll see. He insists it isn’t covid but how would he know. He’s never had it. We’ve made a run to the drugstore and have some basics now. Usually after you spend a pile of money on remedies, you get better without them. At least I’m hoping. I used to host a NY day thing but eventually I got tired of it. I went to a lot of work and mostly people wanted to watch the football games. They can do that at home and make their own dang food. I miss the get togethers of my youth. No one would blast the TV and it was all about camaraderie.

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  26. Maybe Gus needs a treadwheel for Christmas! So sorry about his teeth problems. And I hope hubby feels better soon. Merry Christmas to you both, and the kitties as well.

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    • Today is day 2 of D.I.E.T. The grays are taking it harder than the two chonkers. Gracie and Morgan are grazers and if they walk away, there are two cats more than happy to take care of leftovers. I’m still trying to figure out the right amount for everyone. According to charts, Gus should get 4 cans of Fancy Feast which seems like a lot.

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      • Don’t believe what they say on commercial foods. That’s useful for selling food, but not for weight control. Almost always at least double what is needed. I don’t know what Gus weighs, but our 15 lb cat gets one 5.5 ounce can of wet food daily, half am and half pm, and that’s perfect for him.

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        • Thanks. That’s a great guide. (Gus is currently 17 lbs and should be 12. So reminiscent of Hazel!) So far he got 3/4 of a FF can twice yesterday plus a few remnants from the other dishes. I want to switch him to a 5.5 can but he likes FF best. Sasha is taking it well except she wants her breakfast promptly so I get a loud and feisty wake up call in the morning. She won’t pester until dinner. A side effect is that Gracie is eating cat food more easily again.

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  27. Sweet photo of you by the tree – I used to love tinsel but my Mom was a fanatic about us making sure when we put it on the tree that the tinsel had to hang PERFECTLY STRAIGHT. Glad Gus is OK but has some issues that can be addressed…..it really is almost ALWAYS “something” isn’t it. Sorry about your husband though – such a tough time to be sick but when is it ever a good time?! Hopefully “something respiratory” doesn’t mean RSV – hopefully just a bug settling in his chest for a BRIEF visit. Here’s hoping the rest of your Christmas is HAPPY and here’s to a happy, calm, peaceful new year for ALL of us!!

    Hugs, Pam

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    • Actually it seems to be in his throat with coughing. We’ve been vaccinated so not super worried, mostly annoyed. Seriously, this is not a good time! Happy holidays to your house!

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